Chocolate Covered Cherries

I could not wait to wake up and take pictures of my new eye candy. I could not wait to wake up and blog about this quilt top. I have been looking at Irish Chain quilts for some time now, to me-they are beautiful. But, I just never got around to it. I also in my head could not decide if I wanted a color theme or make it scrappy. I have seen one that was scrappy and that was so delicious looking. Well, for a couple of years now, while I am surfing the net, I have come across this pattern. I have seen it under different names-but the original name is Chocolate Covered Cherries by Jo's Country Junction. After eye balling this pattern for a couple of years, I finally said " Oh Nadine, just print the pattern for goodness sake!"So I did. That was a few months ago. I read the directions, figured out what I needed to make this. I needed a mix of brown fabrics, red fabrics and a cream for the background. With that in mind, I kept my eyes open for any opportunity to buy these colors. Even though I was sticking to 3 color schemes, I still felt that it was sorta scrappy because I wasn't just using just 3 different fabrics. Love to mix and match. My first place of purchase was at the Westfield Quilt show this summer. I was so delighted to see vendors there. One in particular had a lot of what I was looking for. Next, stop was quilt shops. I know the directions said to use yardage, but I am a huge lover of fat quarters. I bought a few of them and just made do. I knew that I would be going to my quilt retreat this October, I planned on putting it together there. I decided to pre cut all of the pieces(that took HOURS), label them and put them in a tote--I was so organized- I amazed myself. Well- the retreat was finally here. Away I went with my tote. Opened it up, read the directions some more and saw that- Oh my God, what did I get myself into. I hate cutting fabric, I hate chopping vegetables-to me it is all tedious. Silly me, this is not one of those patterns I can get away with just slapping it together. There not only was a great deal of pre-cutting before the retreat- I was in for a great deal more. I had to make 144 nine patch blocks, 144 square in a square blocks, etc... Before I could do this- I had to make strip set after strip set after strip set, then cut-cut-cut. That took me 3 days to do. I had visions of completing this at retreat-oh foolish me. I did not. I brought it home and decided I would finish it here instead of leaving it in the tote for next retreat. I worked on this Sunday night to last night. I can safely say that I burned the midnight oil.  I was so focused. I went to bed last night with peace in my heart- I had finished it!! I wanted to take it outside and take pictures of this Irish Chain variation quilt top of mine amongst all of the fallen colorful leaves. Ahhhhh Mother Nature, gotta love her. I woke up to rain. That is OK, I settled for just laying it out and clicking away with the camera. I love it!! I can't wait to put it on the Long Arm and quilt it. I am playing with all sorts of designs in my head. I am not sure who's bed this will end up on- possibly mine. I think I deserve a new quilt for my bed!

Here she is- my beautiful Chocolate Covered Cherries quilt top!! What girl doesn't deserve chocolate and cherries?!

I am looking at this over and over--playing out all kinds of quilt designs in my head. There are so many possibilities. I am thinking of thread choices. I may use 3 different colored threads on it. I would love to buy fabric that is a mix of browns and reds for the backing. That would be so lovely. I will have to keep my eyes open when I go to the quilt shops again. I think this is a good reason to go out fabric hunting.

Quilt Retreat!!!

Today is a day that I love. I am packing up all of my sewing projects, machine and notions. I am loading them into my car-set the direction, and off I go!!! I love Quilt retreat. It is always so much fun. Very relaxing. I enjoy being with all the ladies. Listening to the sound of their machines. Because as we all know- they all have their own voices. I love to see what everyone is making. See their fabric. Talk, Laugh, be silly. There is usually the same core people that come. Not all are quilters. We have ladies that make garments, hand sew wool, make jewelry, machine embroider, and scrapbook their photos. Mary Elfman is the woman in charge. It is all due to her hard work and efforts that this retreat occurs twice a year. Once in the fall and then again in the spring. We have been meeting at the Chautauqua Institute. Times are changing, this time, we will be meeting at the Clarion Hotel in Dunkirk NY. I have never been there before. It is on Lake Erie. Currently it is raining-I am hoping it will clear up so that we can go outside and view the lake. I will be there from today until Sunday afternoon. Oh- I have been getting ready for a couple of weeks for this. I ordered T shirts that are not only Halloween like but have to deal with sewing. I even have new pj"s. I have a few stops to make along the way for supplies- and then on to my destination. My thoughts are to not only talk and catch up with everyone but to  try to get at least one quilt top done. I have this silly desire to fulfill. I remember my Mom talking about when she was younger and growing up in Buffalo. It was so different back then. She often said that her and her girlfriends would go to the corner stores at night to get penny candy while they were wearing their pj"s. There were times she said that they would go in the local bar to find their Dad's, Uncles etc..... to ask them for some pennies first. I have always laughed about that....... so in honor of my mom, I am going to wear my pj's and slippers and sit at the bar in the hotel and order a drink. I will lift it up and toast my Mom in heaven. I am sure she will get a kick of it.  Not sure if I will be able to post my blog while I am gone. If not--- I will play catch up when I get back. I wish everyone a great sewing weekend!!